Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer had a great time filming The Help, and the former hopes to continue that fun. But wait, why isn’t Emma Stone in it? The Tree of Life star has an idea for a follow-up to her 2011 historical drama film, which would see her reprising Celia Foote again with Spencer playing Minny Jackson. In the Tate Taylor film, Stone played Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan, a young, White girl with aspirations of becoming a journalist.
The narrative centered on her interactions with two African American maids, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), during the Civil Rights Movement. Skeeter (Stone) chose to write a book from the maids’ perspective, exposing the racism they experience while working for White families. Moreover, Chastain’s Celia and her maid, Minny, became friends as they supported each other through difficult marriages.
Jessica Chastain Pitched Idea for The Help Sequel Without Emma Stone
Jessica Chastain shared her idea for a The Help sequel during an appearance on the Entertainment Weekly podcast The Awardist, even though it is just a concept in her head. During the interview, she expressed her preference to return to the role of Celia Foote among all the roles she has played.
Despite the role’s lighthearted nature, Chastain said, “It was such a deep dive for me”, and she thought the friendship between Celia and Octavia Spencer‘s Minnie had a lot of potential.
Well, the potential sequel would take up where The Help left off. The official announcement of its sequel has not yet been made, and even Spencer has not addressed the idea. But when Chastain asked, “How amazing would that film be?”, she was already building excitement for the concept.
It was evident that there was room to explore those characters even more in a narrative when she said:
“I loved her, and I got to be a bit silly.”
But there is a catch to Chastain’s revelation: while Emma Stone’s Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan might not be shown, Minny and Celia might be the main focus of the potential sequel.
Why is Viola Davis Likely to be Featured in The Help Sequel?
Although The Help was a box office success at the time, critics and even some of the cast, including Viola Davis, have criticized the film for focusing too much on White voices in a story that was supposed to be about Black maids in Mississippi.
Davis stated in 2020 for Vanity Fair:
“There’s no one who’s not entertained by The Help. But there’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth].”
The Woman King actress previously talked candidly in a 2018 interview with The New York Times about how much she regretted her role in the $216.6 million film.
“I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie.”
Still, The Help was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (for Davis), and Best Supporting Actress (for Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer). Additionally, the movie received positive reviews from critics who mostly praised the acting (especially that of Davis, Spencer, and Chastain). It was a critical and commercial success, grossing $216 million worldwide.
The Help is streaming on Tubi TV.
